Author Archives: Victoria Pelham, Cronkite News Service

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s senators urged tribal leaders Thursday to move quickly on a proposed settlement of water-rights claims so they can push the bill through Congress before this session ends.
In separate closed-door meetings with Navajo and Hopi leaders in Tuba City, Republican Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain stressed the importance of quick action, said those who attended the meetings.

WASHINGTON – Federal courts in Arizona are still in “dire circumstances” as an emergency declaration that was supposed to help judges keep pace with a crushing caseload is set to expire.
The judicial emergency declared last year in the wake of the shooting death of Chief Judge John Roll runs out Monday, but officials say the U.S. District Court for the state still faces many of the same challenges.

A federal appeals court Tuesday criticized the U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona for failing to “acknowledge and take responsibility” for the courtroom behavior of a federal prosecutor the court had chided last month.

A federal appeals court has taken what some attorneys called the unprecedented step of demanding to know if the government plans to prosecute seven illegal immigrants who have no other criminal record.